Outsmarted
by SmoshyDoctor
Summary: [AU] (I suck at summaries.) Moving into 221B Baker Street was possibly the best (and worst) decision of Kate Collins' life. From solving murders to dealing with Sherlock on a daily basis, Kate's life is flipped upside down. How will she manage living with a high-functioning sociopath?
1. Chapter 1

_Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true._

* * *

"You're moving out?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah. It's nothing personal, Jace, but I just need a change of scenery."

Her roommate snorted. "**I'm sure**. If you didn't like being in all of the parties I threw, you could've just told me."

"No, no, I _loved_ the parties, Jace, I..." She took a minute to let out a shaky sigh. "...It's just that I can't handle **this** - _**us**_ - anymore."

He smirked. "The way you said that makes it sound _like you're breaking up with me_. We're not even **dating**, Kat."

"I **am**," Kate Collins said, trying as hard as she could not to let her voice falter. "In a sense."

Jace Hardwick let out a nervous laugh as his gaze went to his feet. "You're _crazy_."

"If you think that, then _why_ did we ever agree to become roommates, Jace?" Kate chuckled.

He looked up at her with a sad smile painted on his face. "I **really** don't know."

* * *

_The address is 221B Baker Street. You can't miss it._

_-Mike Stamford_

Kate crumpled up the small piece of paper in her hand as the cab came to a stop. She was very nervous about this; what if her new roommate was just as bad as Jace had been? What if he was a pedophile? What if he was a -

"We're here, ma'am." The cab driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

"Oh, um, yes, thanks," Collins said nervously before grabbing her black suitcase with all of her things inside of it. She opened the door and, as she stepped out into the fresh new atmosphere, almost knocked over a man.

"I - I'm _sorry_," the young woman apologized, "I didn't see you there..."

The man smiled. "Not a problem. And it was really all my fault; I was in such a rush..."

"Well, I hope you're alright," she said. "I'm Kate, by the way."

The passersby grinned. "_**Lovely**_ name, that is. I'm -"

Before he could tell her anything else, the door to 221B opened, and a man who looked to be about Kate's age or so gave her a gigantic smile.

"Oh, Kate, it's _so_ good to see you!" the dark curly haired man cheered as he walked towards her and gave her a hug. "I'm _so_ glad **you** could make it here!"

"Um, you _**know**_ this man?" the passersby asked her as he gave the other man an odd look.

Before Kate could answer, the man let go of her and smiled at the passerby.

"I'm her cousin," he replied, "_and you need to stay out of other people's business_, Mr. Matt Smith."

Matt's eyes grew wide. "Sorry, **what** was that last bit you said?"

"Oh, _nothing_!" the stranger said in a weirdly cheery tone.

"I think I best be going," Kate chimed in, picking up her suitcase off of the ground. "Nice to meet you, _uh_, Matt?"

Matt Smith smiled at her. "Yeah. _Lovely_ meeting you too, Kate." He gave the stranger a somewhat disgusted look before striding away.

The stranger immediately stopped smiling and looked at her. "You must be my new roommate, then."

"How did you -" Collins glanced down the street before looking back at this strange man. "-Why did you make him go away?"

"It's _obvious_, isn't it? He was plotting to do **terrible** things to you. That facade he presented is **not** the real him at all; in fact, the _**real**_ Matt Smith would've tried to take away your _virginity_ - and your _money_ - the **second** he laid eyes on you. He was just being nice since he wanted to see if kindness would make you fall for him or not." The stranger looked at her.

Kate laughed. "How do you know all of that from a five second interaction?" She thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, how do you even know my _name_? I haven't had the chance to introduce myself yet!"

He gave her the same smile he had previously given her - only this time she could see it was terribly fake. "I'm _**very**_ observant. Now, if you're Kate Avalon Collins, age 36, who recently moved out of her old apartment because Jace Evan Hardwick, your old flatmate was an alcoholic and a womanizer - which I think was a very brilliant decision on your part; those types always seem to cause loads of problems - I think it's high time you saw your new place."

* * *

"So you're the world's only consulting detective," Kate mused, taking a sip of her tea. "Sounds like an...interesting occupation to have."

"It's always interesting when you're the most intelligent person in the room," Sherlock agreed as he picked up his violin. "Well, most of the time."

"You're the smartest person in the world and yet you can't take care of your own place?" she laughed before looking at his housekeeper. "No offense, Mrs. Hudson."

"None taken, dear," she smiled. "I don't mind having to deal with his messes."

"Well, luckily for you, you won't have to clean up after me," Kate said, plopping a few sugar cubes in her tea before drinking. "I'm independent."

"I like her already, Sherlock," Mrs. Hudson grinned.

"You'd have to get used to her one way or another, Mrs. Hudson," Holmes replied as he tuned his violin. "She's going to be staying here for quite a while."

"Is that so?" The elderly woman asked. "I thought she was just a client."

"Well, I could be a client one day," Collins shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Sherlock does," Mrs. Hudson said. "Don't you, Sherlock?"

The detective replied by starting to play a loud piece on his violin.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, dear," the housekeeper smiled at Kate before slipping into the other room.

"So, is this what you do in your free time?" Kate shouted over Sherlock's violent violin playing.

He didn't answer; instead he focused on playing the right notes for the song.

Even though the young woman was usually a very consistent person, she was smart enough to know that interrupting Sherlock Holmes was a very, _very_ bad thing to do, so she fell silent and let the violin music sweep her out of reality for a bit.

* * *

"You like writing _stories_?"

The high-functioning sociopath raised an eyebrow as he leafed through the papers on her new desk.

"Well, yeah, I do," Kate admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's so wrong with that?"

"They're all very...boring. They all have the same stereotypical plot lines for their genre..." He glanced at the title names and gave her a disgusted look. "...You could at least try and be a bit more original with these things."

"I wrote those _years_ ago," Collins said with a hint of embarrassment in her tone. "Give 'em **back**."

"_Not a chance_," Sherlock smirked, "they're _so_ boring that it's almost...**amusing**."

Sherlock's flatmate blushed. "Please, I just want them back."

"Don't worry, I will - as soon as I'm done editing."

The young woman groaned. "Sherlock Holmes, you are _**impossible**_ to deal with."

"Isn't _**that**_ a first," he snorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm as his eyes remained glued to the papers. "I'm _slightly_ appalled that you haven't called me a _**psychopath**_ yet."

"Nah, you're not a _psychopath_," Kate thought, "you're just a _lousy_ _douchebag_."

"You could do better than name-calling," the consulting detective said as she wandered into the kitchen. "Swearing's very improper."

"_Improper_, my **arse**. _**Fuck**_ _**you**_," Collins laughed as she walked towards the fridge. "Have you got anything to eat?"

"Possibly, yes," he said, his eyes still glued to Kate's story. "Make sure you don't pull out the bag of severed fingers while you look for sustenance."

She scoffed. "**Severed** **fingers**. _Yeah_ _right_..." Kate opened the refrigerator, and the second she did so, a bag full of severed fingers fell at her feet. The roommate let out a scream as he smirked.

"I warned you, _**didn't**_ _**I**_?" Sherlock snickered as he began to scribble down notes on her papers. "Make sure that bag goes back in there."

"Why - Why do you have a bag of t -_those_ in your fridge?" the young woman mumbled as she eyes the bag at her feet. Mrs. Hudson warned her that Sherlock kept weird things around the place, but she had expected skulls, or anatomy posters, or something less...disgusting than severed fingers. "You're - you don't **kill** people for those, do you?"

"I keep them as useful items of evidence so that I know fully well what to expect when the police come to me with a case about a corpse with severed fingers," Holmes yawned, as if he was already bored with the topic at hand. "And no, I don't kill people for those."

"_Christ_," Kate whispered as she slowly picked up the bag and set it back down in the fridge. "You really **are** insane."

The high-functioning sociopath tapped his pen against his chin. "Insane is the very _least_ you could say to describe **me**."

* * *

"No, no, of **course** he's **not** the father!" Sherlock exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "**Look at the turn ups on his jeans!**"

Collins giggled. "I should've _**never**_ gotten you into reality tv."

Holmes let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not **into** it...it's just a way to pass the time."

"Sounds like someone who's in denial about their newfound obsession," Kate teased as she went back to looking up cases on her Mac laptop. "_Sherlock_ _Holmes_, _Reality_ _Tv_ _Addict_."

_Her snarky attitude is a shield for how much she misses her so-called friend Jace. She always had hidden feelings for him that she thought she could hide..._

"Tell me, Kate..." The detective clicked off the tv and turned towards her. "...How do you like it here? And don't sugar coat it, because I'll **know** if you're lying."

His roommate let out a shaky sigh as she closed her laptop. "You _**really**_ want me to be _honest_?"

"**Obviously**," he retorted. "Go on."

"I -" Kate bit her lip. " - don't know what to expect from you. I'm unsure of how to deal with a high-functioning sociopath. You're _impossible_ to predict, unlike my friend Jace. He was so **easy** to see through. I adore Mrs. Hudson; she's _the_ _best_. I haven't seen much of my quarters, so I can't judge that..._yet_. And as for all of the body parts, chemicals, papers, and books you leave lying around in the most _**peculiar**_ places...all I have to say to **that** is to get them _**organized**_."

Sherlock nodded. "And what do you mean by _easy to see through_?" He noticed that her voice patterns had changed when she was telling him the truth - and he wanted to know why.

"Wasn't it **pretty** **clear** on its own?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You know _very_ well what I'm talking about," he replied in a somewhat bitter tone.

His roommate rolled her eyes. Kate had no energy to argue after taking a few hours top convince him to not watch just the news. "Alright, _**fine**_. What I meant by that was I could observe him for a few moments and be able to read him like an open book - and that kind of power scared me just a tiny bit, but...it was also very **intriguing**."

The high-functioning sociopath tilted his head to the side. "You could know anything about him just by _one_ _glance_?"

"Well, **yeah**, smart ass," she laughed. Her pattern had gone back to normal, or what Sherlock assumed was normal for her. "You do that _**all the time**_, don't you?"

He leaned back in the chair a little bit. "Why do your voice patterns change when you're telling me the truth?"

"What do you mean?" Kate slightly fidgeted. She then stared straight at him, hoping the eye contact would make him uncomfortable.

"Don't start playing **dumb**," Sherlock snapped, staring directly into her eyes. "You're _hiding_ something...what is it?"

His gaze was immensely unnerving, but she could try and deal with it. Collins fell silent as she tried her best to not break eye contact with him.

They stared at each other in what felt like hours and hours of silence before Mrs. Hudson appeared, armed with loads of groceries.

"Whatever are you two doing?" she asked, setting the bags down.

"Observing," they replied, perfectly in sync. Neither of them broke eye contact.

The elderly woman chuckled. "You two are just like Sherlock and Mycroft."

"Mycroft?" Kate asked, turning her attention to Mrs. Hudson, interrupting Sherlock's observations. "Who's that?"

Their 'housekeeper' gasped. "Sherlock hasn't told you about him yet? Oh, how awfully rude of him." She bent over to grab the groceries before looking back at the younger woman. "Mycroft is Sherlock's older brother."

Sherlock's roommate got up. "He has a sibling?"

"Unfortunately," Holmes sighed as he got up as well. "There's a reason I don't speak of my brother."

"Is it because he's just as much of an arse as you are?" Kate asked, trying not to laugh.

Sherlock glanced at her before going to help Mrs. Hudson with the groceries, leaving her in the rather messy living room. He wondered why Kate's voice had changed as Mrs. Hudson blabbered on about the newest local gossip. She was definitely hiding something from him, and whatever she was hiding, Miss Collins was hiding it rather well.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a darkened room, a rather cunning man smiled devilishly as he watched all of this unfold on the many security cameras hidden in the apartment. He zoomed one of the cameras in on _her_, this woman who had made the decision to live with Sherlock Holmes.

"Kate Avalon Collins," he murmured as she rolled her eyes. "What a rather complex girl you've built yourself up to be."

The man turned off all of the screens as the lights came back on. He opened a filing cabinet underneath his desk and sorted throughout the contents before finding the one piece he wanted.

"What else have you been hiding from me, Miss Kate?" he chuckled before opening the folder. "Tell me more about yourself."

* * *

****A/N: That's it for now! Let me know how I did with this partial re-write of **_The__Science__of__Deduction_** and how well I did with portraying Sherlock. Constructive criticism is always welcome here. :) **

**While you're waiting for the next installment of **_Outsmarted_**, make sure to check out **_The End of Us _**(my SuperWhoLock fanfiction), **_Doctor Who Interviews, _**and many more of my stories. I promise you'll be at least somewhat interested in them... :3**

**See you next time!**

**-SmoshyDoctor (Moriarty)****


	2. Chapter 2

_You never know how much you actually love someone until they're gone._

* * *

_Ping._

Kate groaned, rubbing her eyes. She checked the time on the digital clock sitting next to her phone and sighed. Who the hell sent texts at one in the morning?

Collins picked up her phone and unlocked it before reading the text.

_From: Unknown_

_You think you can hide your secrets from everyone?_

Underneath that was a picture - no, it was _**the**_ picture.

Kate gasped, her eyes growing wide as she realized what it was of - _but how the hell did they find it? _She thought that the picture had been burned ages ago...it shouldn't exist...

_Well, as I imagine you can fathom, I'm not simply _**everyone**_._

_I'm watching you, Miss Kate Avalon Collins._

The roommate set down her phone slowly as her hand began to shake. Whoever got that dirt on her wasn't screwing around...they must be a professional stalker if they found _that_ picture.

Kate flopped back down on her bed, her eyes watering as she tried to fall asleep again. She had been scared silly before, but this fear was a whole different level of terror. Most stalkers were never caught in the act, and, if this one had found something like that from her past, then whoever had sent her those messages was most likely to never get caught.

_The worst part is that I can't even tell Sherlock, _the young woman thought as a single tear slid down her face. _If I told him, he'd - _Kate broke off with a tiny sob.

* * *

"You made pancakes?"

Kate looked up from the newspaper. "Yeah, I did. Why?"

"I had no idea you could cook," Sherlock shrugged as he grabbed a plate from the cupboard.

She set down the paper and gave him an odd look. "Is that supposed to be a joke, or are you just being rude?"

He smirked. "Both. I hope you didn't put any pepper in these."

Miss Collins laughed before taking a sip of her coffee. "Why would I ever put pepper in my pancakes? That would make it taste **disgusting**!"

Holmes carefully arranged a few pancakes on his plate. "Mycroft used to do that when I was younger." He grabbed a bottle of maple syrup before moving to the fridge. "Everyone else had normal pancakes _but_ me."

Kate fake pouted. "_Poor_ _little_ _Sherlock_. Your brother sounds like a big _meanie_."

"Oh, shut **up**," the high-functioning sociopath spat as he looked for a suitable drink.

His roommate giggled. "But seriously, he _does_ sound like a douchebag. No **wonder** you two are related..." She took a huge bite out of her pancake stack.

He took out a carton of milk and set down his plate on the counter before opening another cupboard to find a mug. "Am I supposed to take offense to that?"

"If you weren't Sherlock Holmes, then the answer is _yes_." The young woman took another large bite out of her breakfast before taking a swig of her drink. "But you are you, so **you don't have to**. All you need to do is over analyze everything that I say and or do." She paused for a moment. "Hey, I made a rhyme!"

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to be _funny, _Kate_. _You forgot to fix your hair today, so you put on a beanie in your haste - which is **unnaturally** quick for _your_ morning routine; usually you spend five to ten minutes on your hair. When you don't do that, it means something's bothering you. Now, if you would be so kind as to cut the act and tell me what's going on, I am here to..._listen_."

Kate sighed. "You got me, Holmes." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't get much sleep last night...I had a _**terrible**_ dream."

The detective nodded. "What was it about? Make sure to get to the point, and **don't** be boring."

"_Well_..." She hesitated. "No, never mind. You'll think I'm stupid."

Holmes scoffed. "I don't believe that _anything_ _else_ you say to me can convince me that you have even more vacancy in your _**sorry excuse for a brain**_."

Miss Collins pretended not to hear that last bit as she went on to tell him about a dream where she got threatening messages from an anonymous stalker with loads of blackmail on her. When she was finished explaining the part where she woke up with sweat on her face, the sociopath closed his eyes and began to analyze.

* * *

As Kate waited for him to finish, she made a silent prayer that he would believe her little white lie. She was not in the mood to deal with him trying to pry more out of her like he did yesterday. That had terrified her. Thank God Mrs. Hudson had come back from the store then; otherwise who knows what he could've found out.

"You must've been feeling some sort of guilt about something you did in the past, and you were worried that it would come back to haunt you before you fell asleep," Sherlock said after a few minutes or so of silence. "Whatever you did, I'm sure it was **not** a major problem. The nightmare might've just been amplifying old emotions."

She let out a sigh of relief. He had it the problem right on the nose, but Kate wasn't going to tell him that - then it would be blatantly obvious that something was wrong. "Thank _God_."

"No need to thank me," the consulting detective stoically replied.

* * *

"What've we got today, Molly?" Sherlock glanced at the mortician.

"Her name's Logan Daniels. Age 26. Came in yesterday. It's a shame, actually...She seemed like such a nice person," Molly sighed before looking at Kate. "Oh. Um. Sherlock, who's this?"

"Hm?" He looked up from the corpse. "Oh, that's Kate, my new flatmate. I'm showing her 'round the place today."

Molly relaxed a little bit before smiling at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Molly Hooper."

"Kate Collins," Sherlock's roommate grinned. "It's a pleasure."

"Hand me that magnifier, would you?" the consulting detective interrupted, holding his hand out, not taking his eyes off of the dead.

"Oh, um, yeah, the _magnifier_..." Hooper turned away from Kate briefly to hand him the tool. "Here."

"Thank you," he said before examining the body closely.

"So...this is all part of his life, then?" Kate asked Molly.

"Pretty much," she replied, glancing at him. "He helps Lestrade and Sally at crime scenes too."

Miss Collins raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll run into them eventually," the mortician nodded. "Lestrade's an inspector, and Sally's his partner." She paused. "And by partner, I mean work partner, not _actual_ partner -"

"_This isn't the body of Logan Daniels._"

Kate and Molly's eyes grew wide as they both turned to face Sherlock. "_**What**_?"

"Logan Samantha Daniels drowned in a lake nearly _ten_ _years_ _ago_. This woman, Holly Madison Carver, was the **murderer** of Daniels. She killed her out of a fit of anger when they were both swimming in the lake. She realized the weight of what she had done only moments later and came up with what she thought was a foolproof plan to make sure no one found out the truth - Holly assumed the identity of Logan and erased all traces of Holly Madison Carver. She lived in peace for ten years before the strung out guilt completely consumed her, and she decided that she couldn't take it any longer. Holly hung herself yesterday afternoon, and Scotland Yard found her body hours later - leading us to the present." Sherlock pulled up the blue tarp over Holly's face. "Piece of cake."

Kate whistled. "_Wow_. **That** was..."

"..._**Amazing**_!" Molly chirped, grinning. "_Fantastic_ job, Sherlock!"

"Thank you," he nodded. "It was _child's_ _play_."

"Wait a minute...if Holly erased all traces of her own existence, then_ how did you know about her?_" Collins asked, trying not to look at the corpse.

"I have a vast amount of knowledge about the secrets people conceal," Holmes said cryptically. "I'm the _**expert**_ when it comes to hidden objects."

_Wait. Does that mean he knows about -_

The door suddenly burst open, and a middle-aged man who appeared to be rather angry strode in the room.

"Molly, I need you to send this autopsy report to -" He paused when he saw Sherlock and Kate standing next to each other. " - Am I interrupting _something_?"

"She's **not** my girlfriend, Lestrade," Holmes snapped. "I'm just showing her around -"

"- She's his new flatmate," Molly spoke up.

The Inspector chuckled. "Flatmate? Bloody _**hell**_. " He looked at Kate. "Good luck living with that sorry excuse of a person."

Kate laughed. "I've lived with worse, _believe_ _me_."

Lestrade snorted. "Nice try, but you're not fooling _me_. He's the worst person you've _**ever**_ roomed with, isn't he?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You _really_ don't like Sherlock, do you, Inspector? Is it because he steals all of the attention from you? Or,is it because he has less _gray_ _hairs_ than you?" Sherlock gave her a questioning look as Collins held up a hand. "Or are you just _jealous_ he's gained the affection of Molly while you are nowhere_** close**_ to gaining it?"

"_**Jealous**_ of-" Lestrade glared at Kate. "I've got my eye on you..."

"_Kate_. Her name's Kate Collins," Sherlock piped up as Molly tried her best to not laugh.

"I've got my eye on you, Kate," Lestrade snapped. He turned around and began to walk away, but not before murmuring "She's just as bad as he is".

"How did you know all of _that_?" Molly asked, still trying her hardest not to laugh. "Did Sherlock tell you?"

Sherlock's roommate gave Molly a naive smile. "Tell me what?"

Molly slightly tilted her head. "You know, what you just told Lestrade! Did Sherlock tell you about him before you came here?"

"Oh, _**that**_," Kate giggled, "yeah, he did!" She bit her lip as Molly gave her a warm smile.

Holmes stared at Kate. Her voice patterns had changed when she was speaking down to Lestrade...and then she acted as if nothing had happened...what was with her, this strange little roommate of his?

"Will you excuse us for a moment, Molly?" Sherlock asked as he grabbed Kate's arm. "I just remembered I have some pressing issues to discuss with Kate."

"Oh, um, sure," Hooper said, obviously uncomfortable with Sherlock holding Collins' arm.

He gave her a fake smile. "Good. Thank you."

* * *

"_What_?" Kate asked him, obviously fed up. "I was in the middle of talking to her!"

"How did you know all of that information on Lestrade?" Holmes asked, trying to see if he could read anything about her. "I never told you **any** of that, _especially_ not the bit about his crush on Molly!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied, looking away from him. Kate kept silently praying for a call or a text to interrupt their chat - he was nearing the brink of finding out her secret. "Stop interrogating me, Sherlock."

"I won't stop until I know just what **exactly** is going on with you," he pressed. "You've been hiding something from me since we met yesterday, something _very_ big - andI want to know what** it **is_**.**_"

"Jesus _Christ_, Sherlock, you don't have to be sonosy," Collins snorted as she backed away from him a tiny bit. "It's not really _your_ business to know everything about **my** life."

"As the world's **only** consulting detective, it technically _is_ my business," the high-functioning sociopath retaliated. "I'm just -" He trailed off.

"What?" His roommate crossed her arms over her chest. "You're just _what_?" It was kind of funny to see Sherlock hesitate, considering that it would most likely never happen ever again. She gave him a knowing grin as he groaned in frustration.

"- Forget about it," Sherlock growled.

_Ping._

"Oh, sorry." Kate looked at him. "D'you mind if I get that?"

"'Course not," the consulting detective said in a rather acidic tone. "Go right ahead."

"Thank you." She began reading.

_From: Unknown_

_He's bound to find out eventually, dear. Why don't you just tell him now?_

_Ping._

_From: Unknown_

_If you don't, I will - and I'm fairly sure you don't want that to happen, now, do you, honey?_

_Remember...I'm always watching._

_-M xx_

Kate gulped, slipping her phone back into her jacket pocket.

Sherlock glanced at her. "_Well_?"

"Well what?" she asked, giving him the best fake smile she could muster.

"Isn't there something you would like to tell me?" He stared straight into her eyes. "Anything at all?"

She blinked a few times. "N - No, there isn't." Her palms grew sweaty from nerves.

Holmes raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Completely positive," Collins laughed nervously as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm just...a bit **paranoid**. That dream freaked me out."

He nodded. "I see. Emotions tend to be a burden."

She scoffed. "Was that your way of being _comforting_?"

"If you want to look at it that way," the high-functioning sociopath shrugged. He didn't see any point in engaging in this conversation anymore; if she wasn't going to tell him the truth, then he would refuse to listen to pointless chatter.

_Ping._

This time, it was Sherlock's phone.

He pulled it out of his pocket and clicked on the new message.

_From: Unknown_

_Your flatmate is not who she says she is._

Sherlock raised an eyebrow. "Odd."

"What?"

"Must be a wrong number," Holmes mumbled before putting his phone away. He would look more into that later.

* * *

"**Now** I get why you hate Anderson so much," Kate sighed as they walked into their flat. "He's so stupid that he gives me a headache. Even Iknew the lady died from poison, not asphyxiation..."

Sherlock chuckled a tiny bit. "Who would get poisoning and asphyxiating confused? Only Anderson." He unraveled his scarf and hung it up on the coat rack.

"Only Anderson," she agreed with a large smile on her face. "I'm surprised how many cases you solved in the past few _hours_...Molly's right about you; you're very good at solving problems the police _just can't seem to handle_."

"Would I be there if I **wasn't** good?" he asked, shrugging his coat off. "No, don't answer that; it was a rhetorical question."

His roommate laughed. "Do you know how many people have come up to me off of the streets and told me to move out as soon as possible?"

Holmes scoffed. "_Great_ subject changer, Kate. Let me think - at least 20, if not more." He looked at her expectantly. "Am I right?"

"Course you are," Collins giggled. "You're always right." She paused for a moment. "Well, most of the time."

He gave her a tiny little smile. "Of course." Sherlock glanced down at his phone briefly before looking up at her again. "Well, Miss Collins, I think it's past our bedtime."

She beamed. "Why, yes it is."

* * *

_Remember...I'm always watching._

Kate lay awake in bed as the messages ran through her head. She couldn't have brought herself to tell Sherlock the truth, even if the rather invasive M forced her to. Hopefully he hadn't told her flatmate about...that yet. If he knew...there was no telling what he would do to her.

_Although...I hate living a lie, _the young woman thought. _I hate putting up a wall to protect what little I have left. I know it's for the best, but - sometimes doing the right thing isn't - I just don't want him to know - I don't want to lose him._

That last thought startled her a little bit. Lose him? Why would she lose him? Sherlock probably didn't consider her as a friend, or even an _acquaintance_...He just called her his roommate, and that was most likely all he thought when it came to her; _nothing more, nothing less. _Since when did someone like Sherlock get emotionally attached to a rather mysterious and odd woman like her anyways?

_Ping._

Kate flinched. She had grown to despise that noise, thanks to M, whoever he or she was. Her gaze went to her phone, sitting on the edge of her nightstand. Should she dare reading the new message? Or would she just keep on lying in her bed, contemplating deep thoughts and tough decisions?

_Ping._

She flinched again. M sure was persistent when it came to virtually harassing her...Kate rolled over, facing away from her phone as her eyes began to close.

_Ping. Ping. _

"Fuck _you_," Collins whispered as she wrapped her pillow around her ears.

_Ping. Ping. Ping._

"Go** fuck yourself.**"

_Ping ping ping ping..._

"Okay, _fine_, you fucking **cunt**," the roommate grumbled, tossing the pillow away from herself as she reached for her phone. "If I answer, can you just shut the fucking hell _**up**_?"

_1 new voice message and 10 texts from: Unknown_

Her eyes grew wide. "Well**, **_**shit**_, M!"

_From: Unknown_

_I warned you. You didn't listen._

_It's a shame, really._

_I do hate having to tattle, but you've forced my hand, Kate dear. If I were you, I'd get up and start packing - now._

_Once he knows, your reputation is toast._

_No one will ever look at you the same way again._

_If I were you - I would start running. I would run as far away from Baker Street as I could._

_Kiss your sweet safety net goodbye._

_-M_

Her hands began to shake as she clicked on the voice message.

_"Hello, m -my d - dear." _

Kate gasped. That voice...no...but...it **couldn't** be...

_"It's a...It's a shame you didn't listen t -to m -me; it would've made this all the more easy for you. Then again, it would've made my job...less...f- fun." _ The person broke off with a sob. _"I-I'm giving y - you one last choice, and please...don't abuse it like the last - the last one." _

"**Jace**?" she gulped, tightening her grip on the bedsheets.

_"I'm giving you fifteen minutes and..." _He stopped to take a shaky breath. _"...fifteen minutes only to tell that detective of yours the cold, bitter truth. If you don't -" _Hardwick went silent for a few moments as she heard a gun being cocked in the background. _" -I'll blow Jace's b -brains out."_

The line went dead, and that was that.

Kate immediately jumped out of bed. There was no time to waste. She didn't want Jace's brains blown out, even if he had been a douche to her. He didn't deserve that.

Hell, no one deserved to have their brains blown out.

Collins dashed towards the door and began to twist the doorknob before chills shot down her back. Sherlock's roommate glanced at herself, swearing under her breath. The one time she thought that it was fine to sleep with just a bra and panties on, she was hurled into a life-threatening situation. Typical.

Kate grabbed her bathrobe and put it on as she exited the room and dashed out into the hall. She slid a tiny bit on the wooden flooring as she looked around frantically for his room.

"Why can't I ever find his room?" Miss Collins grumbled, glancing around for a sign that she was getting there. "Damn you -"

" - Looking for me?" Sherlock stepped out of the shadows.

She jumped before letting out a broken laugh. "Shit, Holmes, you scared me..."

He snorted. "Cut the crap." The high-functioning sociopath gazed into her eyes for a moment. "Alright, let me guess, you're looking for me because there's something of utter urgency you need to tell me in the next fifteen minutes or so because someone is threatening to blow your so-called friend Jace's brains out if you don't?"

"...Yeah," Kate exhaled. "I just don't know if I can bring myself to -"

"Whoever gave you the threat is going to kill Jace _whether_ _you_ _tell_ _me_ _or_ _not_," the consulting detective interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you would have figured that out by now, what with your recently acquired skills of observation."

"You're..." She chuckled nervously. "You've **got** to be _kidding_ me. M's going to do that?" Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fucking hell. That's _just_ what I needed at four in the morning."

Sherlock's eyes grew wide. "_M? _Oh, this is getting better by the second!" He rubbed his hands together. "The mysterious M has been popping up in many cases I've had in the past few days!"

"Getting _better_?" Collins hissed. "It's getting **worse** by the mother fucking **second**, Sherlock!" She sighed. "Sorry about all the swearing; I get very angry when I don't get enough sleep..."

"The only problem with this M figure is that I don't _quite_ have a name to piece it all together," Sherlock continued, acting as if he hadn't heard her. "All I need is a name..."

_Ping._

_"Hey, this is Kate Collins. Leave me a message."_

_Beep._

_"I - I p - prefer to remain a f - figure," _Jace's voice echoed from Kate's room. _"It presents m -me as a sort of...urban legend."_

"Kate, go answer your phone right now," Holmes demanded. When she didn't move, he shoved her a tiny bit. "**Go**!"

She hesitated for a second before dashing into her room and snatching the cellphone off of her bed. Collins put it on speakerphone before answering. "Hello?"

_"Oh. Glad you c -could pick up for once," _Hardwick stammered as the sound of someone clicking a gun's safety off sounded in the background noise. _"So n -nice to hear your voice for once, m - m -my d - dear."_

"Kate, bring the phone here," Sherlock yelled as she tried so hard not to cry.

There was an uncomfortable pause as she did as she was told. Kate was in no mood to get in an argument, and most certainly not in any mood to [indirectly] talk to her stalker M.

_"Sherlock Holmes," _Jace gulped. _"I've heard s -so much about you. Sherlock Holmes, the internet phenomenon; Sherlock Holmes, t -the world's most brilliant m -man."_

"Who _are_ you?" Holmes asked, a tone of annoyance present in his voice.

_"Why would I t -tell you? Y - You wouldn't know who I am, and even i -if you did, you'd turn me in to Lestrade's men as soon as y -you g -got your hands on me."_

"**Please** tell me that you're not going to kill Jace," Kate piped up, snatching her phone back from her roommate. "_I don't want him to die._"

Jace took a minute to cry as Sherlock glared at her.

_"He -" _Hardwick choked on his tears. _"He _is _of utter i -importance to you, isn't he, Miss Kate?"_

"Yeah, no **shit**," she said, a tear forming at the corner of her eye. "Jace means a lot to me, even if he _was_ kind of an arse."

_"I -" _Jace gulped. _"- I can't do this anymore."_

"...Sorry, _**what**_?"

_"I - I just can't do this anymore," _he repeated, talking to someone else in the background. _"I'm sorry. I just can't listen to her worry about me anymore. It's...it's too much."_

"Jace, this is Sherlock," the detective said as he took her phone away from her again. "Listen to me. Whatever you're thinking, it's **not** going to work."

_"Sorry, Mr. Holmes, but I know what I'm doing," _Jace replied as Kate bit her lip hard, forcing herself not to cry. _"I've made my choice."_

"Jace, listen to _me_!" Sherlock demanded as he began to pace. "**Don't** make a stupid decision!"

_"I'm sorry, Mr. Holmes...but I honestly have no other way out of this one." _Hardwick let out a shaky breath. _"He...He promised he would help me..."_

"_Who_? Who promised you that?" Kate and Holmes asked in sync, too caught up in the moment to realise that they were on the same page, for once.

_"He has such an odd...voice," _Jace croaked. _"And...He never stops talking about Kate..."_

"No, _no_, Jace, just **stop**," the sociopath instructed.

_"I -"_

A single gunshot cut off Jace's last thought before the line went dead.

"No!" Kate shrieked. "**No**!" She began to fall to her knees as tears began streaming down her face. "_**Jace**_!"

Sherlock did nothing for a moment, but then dropped Kate's phone on the floor.

"I don't believe it."

She glared at the detective through her tears. "Well, _believe_ it, you **fucking** **cunt**! He's _**dead**_. He's _dead_, and now I can **never** see him **ever** _again_."

"I -_Wait_." The high-functioning sociopath closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"What the _**fuck**_ do you think _**you're**_ **doing**, Sherlock?" Kate screamed. "I'm sitting here on the floor crying about my old roommate who I really cared for, and you're just standing there and..._**thinking**_!" She blinked away a few tears. "What good did _your_ thinking do, **anyways**?"

"Shut **up**, Kate; I'm _trying_ to focus."

He entered his mind palace as she fell quiet, rubbing some tears away.

"I'm gonna miss that sorry son of a bitch," his roommate mumbled, staring off into space.

_Ping._

Sherlock's eyes opened as he glanced at her phone. "Read it. It may be important."

Collins did as she was told.

_From: Unknown_

_You let your friend die just so that you could avoid telling Sherlock the truth._

_How selfish of you._

_Well, if I can't get force the truth out of you this way, I suppose I'll have to __**convince**__ you - _personally_._

_The pool. Five-thirty. Don't be late, or else._

_-M_

"What did it say?"

Kate gulped before looking up at her roommate. "It appears I've got a promise to keep."

* * *

****A/N: Well, congratulations on surviving this hella long chapter, mate! :) I applaud your efforts and willpower.**

**Anywho, if you would like to give me some constructive criticism about this story and its plot line so far, leave a review and I'll think it over! :)**

**...That's all I've got to say for now. Laters!**

**-SmoshyDoctor****


	3. Chapter 3

_He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster._

_When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you._

* * *

Kate opened the door, leading her into the area surrounding an indoor swimming pool. The lights were on, but there was nobody else around. She walked very slowly towards the shallow end, noting that the upper gallery where people sat to watch the swimmers was still engulfed in darkness. Her heart began to beat fast. She hadn't expected this place to be as eerie as it was...

Collins stopped at the edge of the pool and turned, trying to see up into the area of the gallery above her head, but to no avail. Finally, she turned towards the pool again, raising one of her hands, holding up her cellphone.

"Well? I'm here," she said loudly, her voice echoing throughout the area. "And I brought you a little getting-to-know-you present." Kate began to turn in a slow circle as she waited for a reply.

As soon as her back was turned to the pool, a door opened halfway down the room. She looked over her shoulder, still holding her phone aloft.

Sherlock walked through the door and into the pool area, wrapped snugly in his coat and scarf with his hands tucked into the pockets. He turned to look at Kate as she stared at him in absolute shock.

"Evening," the detective murmured.

Kate's raised hand began to lower slowly. She stayed completely still, staring at him in utter disbelief.

"This is a turn-up, isn't it, Kate?"

"Sherlock. What the hell...?" Collins softly whispered, totally shocked.

"Bet you never saw _this_ coming."

Kate finally got the strength to move as she started to walk slowly towards the man she had started to believe to be her friend, up until this point. The shock and bewilderment on her face made her look about twelve years old.

Then, with a look of despair that matched hers, Sherlock took his hands from his pockets and pulled open his coat to reveal the bomb strapped to his chest. A sniper's laser immediately began to dance over the bomb.

"What would you like me...to make him say...next?" Sherlock said, a hint of what sounded like boredom in every word he spoke.

Sherlock's flatmate continued to step towards him as she looked everywhere but at the consulting detective as she tried to see who else was in the area.

"Gottle o' geer...gottle o' geer...gottle o' geer." It was now dead obvious that he was narrating words fed to him through an earpiece, yet Kate was still surprised that his voice had slightly cracked on the last word.

"Stop it," Collins demanded.

Holmes kept narrating, this time sounding a bit fed up. "Nice touch, this: the pool where your precious Jace died. I stopped him." The high-functioning sociopath took a deep breath before continuing. "I can stop Sherlock Holmes too." He looked down at the laser point on his chest. "Stop his heart."

She turned on the spot, trying to look in all directions. "Who the hell _are_ you?"

A door opened at the far end of the pool, and a soft male voice with an Irish accent began to speak from that direction.

"I told you to tell Jace about the debt."

Kate paused. That voice...why did it sound so familiar?

"I thought you would listen," the voice said plaintively.

Miss Collins turned towards the new arrival, who slowly walked out into the open. It was Jim, Jace's landlord.

But this wasn't the fumble-fingered, casually dressed Londoner who did indeed press Kate to tell Jace about the massive amount of money he owed; this was a sharply-dressed man with immaculate hair and a murderous look on his face.

With his hands in his pockets, he casually began to stroll alongside the deep end of the pool, heading towards Kate and Sherlock. All hint of plaintiveness had disappeared from his voice.

"Is that an ordinary kitchen knife in your pocket..."

Kate reached down to her jacket pocket and removed a knife from it.

"...or are you just pleased to see me?"

She raised the knife and aimed it towards Jim. "Both."

Jim stopped and looked back at her, completely unafraid.

"Jim Moriarty. Hi!"

Sherlock's flatmate tilted her head as she looked more closely at the man.

"Jim? Jim from the flats?"

He began to walk alongside the deep end again as Kate brought up her other hand to support the one holding the knife. Jim bit his lip, as if he was disappointed.

"Oh. Did I really make such a fleeting impression? But then, I suppose, that _was_ rather the point."

Moriarty turned to face Kate just as the sniper's laser flickered over Sherlock's upper chest. She briefly turned her head towards Sherlock, a questioning look on her face.

Jim started to walk again. "Don't be silly. Someone else is holding the rifle. I don't like getting my hands dirty." He reached the corner of the pool and stopped. "I've given you both a glimpse, just a teensy glimpse of what I've got going on out there in the big bad world. I'm a specialist, you see..." Moriarty looked surprised, as if he had only just realized the connection. "...like your _friend_ Sherlock here."

Kate's gaze went back to the detective. Sherlock let out a somewhat disappointed sigh.

"Dear M. Please will you fix it for me to get rid of my lover's nasty sister?"

As he started to walk forward again, Jim devilishly grinned. She looked at Sherlock in surprise - he hadn't said much till now.

"Dear M. Please will you fix it for me to disappear to South America?"

Now she understood what Holmes was doing. He was feeding her clues.

Moriarty stopped again. "Just so."

"Consulting criminal," Collins spoke up, slowly putting the pieces together. "_Brilliant_."

He smiled proudly. "Isn't it? No one ever gets to me - and no one ever will."

Kate tightened her grip on the handle of the knife. "I did."

"You've come the closest," Jim said. "Now you're in my way."

"Thank you," she replied.

"Didn't mean it as a compliment," he retorted.

"Yes you did," Sherlock piped up.

He shrugged. "Yeah, okay, I did. But the flirting's over, Katie...Daddy's had enough now!" Moriarty's voice became high-pitched and sing-songy on the last sentence as he started to stroll closer. "I've shown you two what I can do." Jim went back to his normal tone of voice. "I cut loose all those little people, all those little problems, even Katie's dear Jace just to get you to come out and play."

Sherlock closed his eyes briefly. Kate's glance flickered over to him a couple of times as she tried to keep her focus on the man approaching them.

"So take this as a friendly warning, my dear. Back off." Jim smiled. "Although...I have _loved_ this -this little game of ours." He switched over to his London accent for a moment. "Playing Jim the landlord." He went back to his normal Irish accent. "Playing gay."

"People have died," the consulting detective interrupted.

"That's what people _DO!_" Moriarty screamed the last word furiously, his personality changing in an instant. Kate's eye twitched.

"I will stop you," she said, trying her hardest not to stutter.

He relaxed. "No you won't."

Kate looked at Sherlock. "You alright?"

The high-functioning sociopath looked at her briefly before Jim walked forward again, reaching his side.

"You can talk, my dear Sherly. Go ahead."

Refusing to specifically obey Moriarty's orders, Sherlock met Kate's eyes and nodded once. She lowered the knife, taking one hand off of the the handle to take her phone out of her pocket, holding it out towards Jim.

"Take it," Collins demanded.

He looked at her. "Huh? Oh! That!"

The consulting criminal strolled past Sherlock and reached out for the cellphone, grinning. "The personal files!"

Jim took the phone from Kate's fingers and brought it to his mouth to kiss it. Behind him, Sherlock was silently murmuring to himself, perhaps to wind himself up to take action. Moriarty lowered the phone and looked at it.

"Boring!" he said in a sing-songy voice, shaking his head. "I could have got them anywhere." M then nonchalantly tossed her phone into the pool.

Seeing his opportunity, Sherlock raced forward and slammed himself up against Jim's back, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other around his chest.

She backed up a step in surprise before raising the knife and keeping it aimed at the criminal.

"Kate, run!" Holmes demanded.

Moriarty laughed in delight. "_Good! Very_ good."

Kate didn't move, still aiming her knife at Jim's head as she looked up a little anxiously, wondering what action the hidden sniper might take.

"If your sniper pulls that trigger, Moriarty, then we both go down," the consulting detective said in a rather savage tone.

Jim turned his attention to her, speaking very calmly. "Isn't he sweet? I can see why you chose to stay with him. But then, people do get so sentimental about their friends."

Grimacing angrily, Sherlock pulled him even closer onto the bomb that is now sandwiched between them. Jim turned his head and scowled at him.

"They're so touchingly loyal. But, _oops!_" He grinned briefly at Sherlock before looking back at Kate. "You've rather shown your hand there, Mr. Holmes."

Moriarty chuckled as a new laser point appeared in the middle of Kate's forehead. Sherlock stared in horror as Jim looked around at him expectantly. Kate realized what was happening from Sherlock's expression and shook her head slightly.

The consulting criminal switched back to his sing-songy voice. "Gotcha!"

He chuckled as Sherlock released his grip on him and stepped back, holding his hands up to signal to the sniper that he wouldn't be trying anything else. Jim glanced around before turning back towards Kate while he brushed his hands down his suit to straighten it. He gestured to it indignantly.

"Westwood!" Moriarty lowered his hands, calmly standing in front of Collins, who still had the knife aimed at his head. "D'you know what happens if you two don't leave me alone, Kate, to _you?_"

"Oh, let me guess: I get killed," she said, sounding awfully bored. Her speech patterns had changed.

"Kill you?" He grimaced. "N-no, don't be obvious. I mean, I'm gonna kill you anyway some day. I don't wanna rush it, though. I'm saving it up for something special. No-no-no-no-no. If you don't stop prying, I will _burn_ you."

Jim briefly ran his eyes down Kate's body before meeting her eyes again; his voice becoming vicious.

"I will burn the _heart_ out of you." His face was a snarl as he said the word 'heart'...but at the end of the sentence, he almost looked regretful.

"I have been reliably informed that I don't have one," Kate softly replied in her different voice.

"But we both know that's not _quite_ true."

She blinked involuntarily as Moriarty looked down, a smile on his face. He shrugged.

"Well, I'd better be off." Jim nonchalantly looked around, perhaps to check his exit route before turning back to Kate. "It was so nice to have had a proper chat."

Miss Collins raised the knife higher, extending it closer to the criminal's head. "What if I was to stab you now - right now?"

M was completely unperturbed. "Then you could cherish the look of surprise on my face." He opened his eyes and mouth wide, mimicking surprise, before grinning at her. "'Cause I'd be surprised, Kate; really, I would." Jim screwed up his nose. "And just a teensy bit...disappointed. And of course you wouldn't be able to cherish it for very long."

The consulting criminal slowly began to turn away. "Ciao, Kate Collins." He looked back at her with some distaste as he walked towards the side door that Sherlock had come through earlier. Kate slowly stepped forward to keep him in her sights.

"Catch...you...later," she said cautiously.

The door opened, and Moriarty's voice could be heard, high-pitched and sing-song.

"No you won't!"

The door closed shut as soon as he had stopped talking.

Kate didn't move for a few seconds - her knife was still aimed at the door. Then her gaze drifted across the floor to Sherlock and she instantly bent, setting the knife on the floor, dropping to her knees in front of Holmes as she started unfastening the vest to which the bomb was attached.

"Sherlock, you alright?"

He tilted his head back, taking a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" she asked urgently.

"Yes, of course I am," he snapped.

Having unfastened the vest, Kate jumped up and hurried round behind Sherlock, starting to pull the coat and the bomb vest off in one go.

"I'm **fine**."

Kate, breathing fast, continued trying to tug the coat and vest off.

"Kate."

Finally, she managed to roughly take the coat and vest off of Sherlock's arms.

"_**Kate!**_"

Collins bent and skimmed the items as far away along the floor as she could, while he staggered at the vehemence with which his flatmate just ripped them off of him.

"For God's sake," Sherlock muttered softly as he reached up and pulled the earpiece out of his ear. Kate turned to stare at him for a moment, then hurried back to pick up the knife before she raced towards the door that Moriarty had left through.

The high-functioning sociopath slowly got up, holding onto the nearest support from the edge of one of the changing cubicles. As soon as he had regained his footing, he let go of the edge and brushed himself off.

"Kate..." His eyes grew wide. "Kate?"

He turned and dropped down into a squat, bracing his back against the cubicle's edge as he let out a long breath - he had almost fallen.

Kate suddenly came back in, having seen no sign of Moriarty being outside. She started to pace up and down near Sherlock, so hyper and distracted that she didn't even realize she was scratching her head with the end of the handle of the kitchen knife.

"Are _you_ alright?" Holmes asked, nearly out of breath.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine, I'm f-fine. Fine." Kate quick fired her answer as she kept pacing, scratching her head with the knife. She turned to him, wide-eyed and breathless. "That, er..._thing_ that you, er, that you did; that, um..." Collins cleared her throat. "...you offered to do. That - that was, um...good."

Sherlock stared blankly ahead. "How long have you been able to do that?"

Kate had temporarily lowered her hand long enough to not risk accidentally stabbing herself in the head - although she had had terrible jitters as she held the knife down by her side. She lifted the knife again as she raised her hand to run her chin while looking down at Sherlock in confusion.

"Hmm?"

Holmes still didn't meet her eyes. "You being able to stand your ground against someone like that. How long, Kate? And **don't** lie."

Kate chuckled nervously. "A while. I didn't know how to tell you."

She looked down at him and chuckled. Sherlock snorted, obviously not satisfied with her answer, then leaned forward, preparing to stand up. But, before he could move, the lights above them and the ones in the pool flickered off. Darkness surrounded them at every turn.

"Sh-Sherlock?" she cried out, stumbling around. Her voice had gone back to normal.

"I'm right here," he replied, standing up slowly.

"Where's here?" Kate put the knife back in her pocket as she began to wander the way Jim had left.

"Behind you," Sherlock instructed. "You'll be fine, Kate, just follow the sound of my voice." He stayed put so that finding him would be a bit easier for her.

She turned around and gulped, slowly stumbling back. "He threw my phone in the pool..."

"I know," Holmes said softly. "Forget about it. You spent too much time on it anyways. Just come here."

"But...that phone is my life," Kate protested, stopping right in front of him. "I can't just let it die.."

"It's been dead ever since Moriarty threw it in there," the high-functioning sociopath said, getting a bit fed up with her. "Now come here."

"Sherlock, you don't _understand_," she snapped. "Jace gave me that phone."

He sighed. Emotions always seemed to prevent her from everything. "Kate, he's gone. Holding onto that phone will only make your recovery worse and not improve it in anyway."

"I don't care!" Collins shouted, her mood changing in less than a second. "Haven't you been listening to me this whole time, Sherlock? He meant the world to me!" A single tear trailed down her face as she turned away from him.

Sherlock was getting very impatient. He had liked her better when she was confronting Moriarty. This version of her was one he couldn't stand. "Kate, listen to me."

"No," she said, walking near the shallow end of the pool. "I won't."

"Kate, stop acting like a child and come **here**!" Holmes demanded, his rage building up.

There was no answer.

"...Kate?" Sherlock's tone softened a little as he looked around, trying to see if he could spot her silhouette.

Still nothing.

"Kate, where are you?"

A door near the deep end of the pool opened, revealing Moriarty, who was holding an unconscious Kate in his arms. Jim noticed Sherlock was starting at him, and smirked.

"Sorry, Sherlock!" he said cheerfully. "I'm _soooooo_ changeable!"

The high-functioning sociopath started walking towards the criminal, but, before he could get anywhere, a sniper's laser began to dance over his chest. He let out an annoyed sigh as he stayed put.

"It is a weakness with me, but, to be fair to myself, it is my _only_ weakness." Jim Moriarty looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms and grinned before looking back up at him. "You can't be allowed to continue. You just can't. I _would_ try to convince you, but..." He laughed; his voice becoming sing-songy again. "...everything I have to say has already crossed your mind!"

Sherlock, who had looked away for a moment, turned his gaze to Kate, his face showing no emotion, but his eyes screaming a silent wish.

"Oh, don't bother," Moriarty said, rolling his eyes, "she's out for the count." He pulled a small white rag out of his jacket pocket and held it up for him to see. "Chloroform."

"How clever of you," Holmes replied in a very mocking tone. "Bring her guard down by taking away her sight, the only thing that keeps her safe..." He scoffed. "You could do better than _that_."

"Indeed," Jim agreed, "but it was the easiest option I had." His gaze went back to Sherlock's flatmate. "You look so innocent when you're not speaking," he whispered to her, smiling evily.

"Oh, stop it," Sherlock said, letting out a bored sigh. "She's not yours to keep, Moriarty."

Jim's smile vanished as he turned his attention to the detective. "She's not yours to keep either, Sherlock - in fact, she was **never** yours." He shook his head, acting as if he was disappointed. "She doesn't like you, and I can see why: you tend to get too deeply involved in other people's lives. Kate's not comfortable with people...with _men_ like that."

"Well, if she's not comfortable around me, then why did she decide to stay?" The consulting detective raised an eyebrow.

"Because she has nowhere else to go," Moriarty instantly replied. "She's lonely, Sherlock, possibly even more so than you."

Kate started to move. Sherlock's eyes lit up with the slightest flicker of hope...until Jim hushed her up by placing his finger on her mouth.

"See? She's even more relaxed around me than you," M said, slipping the rag back in his pocket. "I must say, that _is_ a bit unnerving, isn't it?"

He didn't reply; instead he kept looking at Kate, constantly examining her to see if she was alright.

Suddenly, the introduction to The Bee Gees' song "Stayin' Alive" began to play tinnily. Sherlock looked around in confusion as Jim briefly closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"D'you mind if I get that?"

"No, no, please. You've got the rest of the night," the detective replied nonchalantly.

Moriarty took his phone out from his pocket with his free hand and answered it, tightening his grip on Kate.

"Hello?...Yes, of course it is. What do you want?"

He mouthed 'Sorry' at Holmes, who sarcastically mouthed back 'Oh, it's fine' back at him. M rolled his eyes as he listened to the phone, turning away from him for a moment before spinning back around, his face full of fury.

"**SAY** **THAT** **AGAIN**!" Moriarty yelled into the phone.

The high-functioning sociopath frowned.

"Say that again, and know that if you're lying to me, I will find you, and I will _**skin**_ you." He spoke venemously.

Sherlock looked at Kate again, checking to make sure that she was still unconscious.

"Wait." Jim lowered the phone and began to walk forward. The consulting detective looked at the bomb jacket fretfully and cleared his throat as the criminal approached him. Moriarty stopped at the jacket and gazed down at the ground thoughtfully before lifting his eyes to Sherlock.

"Sorry. Wrong day for you to die."

"Oh. Did you get a better offer?" he casually asked.

M looked down at his phone, then turned and slowly started to walk away. "You'll be hearing from me, Sherlock."

The sniper's laser vanished as Moriarty stepped into the darkness, taking Kate along with him.

* * *

****A/N: Wow. That was...interesting. **

**How do you guys think Sherlock is going to get Kate back?**

**(By the way, I apologize if this chapter was a bit...choppy...I haven't gotten much sleep lately, and it's affecting my quality of writing. I'm hoping this doesn't cause **_Outsmarted _**to turn into another shitty fic like **_The Science of Deduction _**did...)**

**Also, if you guys are starting to see any ships going on [besides Jace and Kate], tell me what you think of them in the reviews section! :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-SmoshyDoctor****


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